


The Catwalk

by FrenchRoast



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:49:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6758509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchRoast/pseuds/FrenchRoast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompted by this tumblr post: http://frenchroast007.tumblr.com/post/141608000993/faithoshauntasy-emospritelet-hilaroar-hilaroar</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Catwalk

  
“Excuse me miss, can you show me where the cat collars are?”

  
Knowing she was currently the only clerk on the floor (both Leroy and Nova were in the back dealing with a shipment from Purina), Belle turned reluctantly from restocking the dog toys to help the customer. For once it wasn’t King George the Creeper, who she was expecting. King George was the old guy who came in every Tuesday during her shift to harass her with suggestive questions about pet breeding, and from whom she’d refused at least 20 different date offers.

  
Belle noticed the suit first—very dark charcoal with a grey shirt and matching tie. It was a little rumpled, even disheveled, but still nice. His hair was longish—not long, but long than most men, especially the kind who wore suits. Older than Belle, but in a hot, gorgeous way. No, this guy was definitely not King George.

  
“Cat collars?”

  
“I’ve been told this is the best pet store to come to for them.”

  
“They weren’t wrong. Let me put these last two dog toys up and I can show you what we have.” She placed the toy ice cream cone on the rack with its mates, and the taco toy next to it.

  
“Thank you so much, Miss…”

  
Belle tapped her nametag as she descended the stock ladder.

  
“Belle. Thank you for helping me.” His voice was warm. Kind.

  
“Come with me and we’ll get you some cat collars,” she said, leading him towards the aisle with cat collars, harnesses, and leashes. The store she worked for had an unusually large collection of cat collars; they spanned the length of one entire aisle. “Can I help you find anything in particular? Do you need breakaway collars? Bells? Flea collars? Reflectors?”

  
The gentleman looked down the aisle. “…I think some more help might be a good idea, yes. I need ten and there are more choices here than I realized.”

  
“Ten?!” Belle was taken aback.

  
He shrugged. “That’s how many cats I have,” he said, as though that were all the explanation needed. Which technically it was, except ten is a lot of cats. Like, a lot.

  
“I see,” Belle said, now wondering how much this guy spent in lint rollers to have a suit that still looked hair-free after coming out of a house with that many cats. “Let’s start with what kind of collar you want.”

  
“The kind that they wear on their necks? All but 2 are indoor cats, if that matters.”

  
“What kind of cats do you have?”

  
“They’re all supermodels,” he replied very seriously. That was when Belle realized that this guy was not the average customer. Not that this was a bad thing; the guy clearly loved his cats. He was hot, and he loved cats. That was already 2 steps ahead of the last guy she'd dated. 3 steps ahead if you added in the fact that her dad wasn't trying to set her up with this guy.

“I meant what do they look like? It’s nice to pick a collar that’s a color that complements their fur or eyes. We can narrow down from there.”

  
He agreed with Belle, and after describing each of his cats (and showing off some very adorable photos from his phone), they set to choosing a suitable collar for each feline.

  
Catherine, the Russian Blue would have the double-stranded pearl collar, complete with a little silver bell charm. Sulei, the aging Turkish Van, got one with gold polka dots against aqua blue, to match her gold and blue odd-colored eyes. There was a little golden jingle bell on her collar, to make her easier to find since she often hid from company.

  
Mary, the brown tabby that was also maybe a Scottish Fold, got a green and blue plaid kitten-sized collar since she was at most 6 months old. She was a rescue his son had given Rumple for his birthday a month ago. All the cats were some kind of rescue, it turned out—cats of friends who had passed away, or cats who’d been abandoned or simply needed a home.

  
Hattie the black Manx got a collar with music notes (“she’s very theatrical”, he insisted). Chula the Siamese got pink and blue argyle. Cleo got red and black with Pac-Man ghosts; her sister Nefertiti, who was a black short hair as well, got yellow with a rose brooch. Ellie (“short for Eleanor, but she refuses to come when I call her that”) the calico got black leather with tiny spikes. The Japanese bobtail Saki would sport a light blue collar with red and white cherry blossoms. And finally, Rosalind, the ginger Maine Coon would have a collar of blue velvet with gold polka dots and a blue bow.

  
Nearly 40 minutes later, with all the collars selected, plus matching harnesses and leashes for Ellie and Rosalind, the pair went to the front of the store to ring up the Cat Gentleman’s purchases.

  
“So if you’ve had all of your cats for so long, why do they suddenly need collars?” Belle asked as she scanned the final collar and placed it into the shopping bag.

  
“There’s someone in my neighborhood trapping cats and I need to protect them. I can’t get the HOA to do anything; they’re worthless. So I have to get my cats collars so people know they’re pets and not strays if they get loose. Ellie and Rosalind are going mad being stuck inside all day, but I can’t risk them going out as long as those excuses for human beings keep trapping cats. ”

  
“Now I get why you wanted leashes for them.”

  
“It’s the only way can make sure they’re safe and keep those two happy. The screened in porch just isn’t enough. Frankly, I’m surprised Ellie hasn’t scratched an escape hole into the screen yet.”

  
“Good luck. I used to have a cat I walked; don’t try to walk them like a dog—just let them lead you. They’ll probably mostly want to sniff things and amble aimlessly.”

  
“That’s good to know. I have any trouble with it, would you mind if I came back here with more questions?”

  
“That would be nice,” Belle said enthusiastically. “I hope you do. Not that I hope you have trouble walking them, but I hope if you need any help, you come back. I’d be more than happy to help you.”

  
“Wonderful. How much do I owe you?”

  
“That’s gonna be…whoa, um, it’s one hundred fifty-six dollars, sixty-two cents.”

  
He handed her his credit card, and while she wasn’t trying to see what his name was as she ran it, she wasn’t not trying, either. “Your parents seriously named you Rumple?” she asked as she handed him the receipt to sign.

  
“Worse. My full name is Rumplestiltskin. My mother liked fairy tales.”

  
Belle nodded, not sure what else to say to that tidbit.

  
“Oh! I almost forgot—I’m low on catnip,” he said, grabbing the pint-sized container on the table to the right of the register. “I’m sorry, I know you just ran the card. Can I pay for this separately?”

  
“No problemo,” Belle said, cringing at herself as the word flew out of her mouth. Since when did she ever say “no problemo?” She was trying too hard. “That’s $6.29.”

  
Rumplestiltskin the Cat Gentleman pulled out his wallet and thumbed through several hundred dollars in cash before plucking a Hamilton out. “Thanks for all your help, Belle,” he said, taking his purchases. "I hope I see you next time I'm here."

  
“Wait, don’t forget your change!”

  
He turned to look back at Belle behind the register as he opened the door. “Consider it a donation to the animal shelter.” He continued on out the door, to his car—a Caddie that looked very good for its age.

  
“Purina is taken care of,” Leroy announced as he wandered up to the register from the back stockroom. "Who was that guy?"

  
Belle sighed. “I don’t know, but I may be in love."

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus! Links to pics of the cats with their collars: [First 5](http://frenchroast007.tumblr.com/post/143908611638/the-first-5-cats-of-the-catwalk-with-their) [Second 5](http://frenchroast007.tumblr.com/post/143908853573/the-last-5-cats-of-the-catwalk-with-their-collars)


End file.
